


So Maybe the Janitor Thinks We're a Thruple

by nonky



Series: So Maybe Series [5]
Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 00:39:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13582338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: Alvaro, the Guatamalan janitor at Whitefeather, Bunch, Plimpton, Plimpton and Plimpton, believes in love and he isn't willing to let Nathaniel and Rebecca give up on it without trying a little gentle encouragement.





	So Maybe the Janitor Thinks We're a Thruple

Nathaniel Plimpton III didn't know why he was still wasting time lingering around the supply closet. He knew Rebecca wasn't going to meet him. He believed she was done with him. There wouldn't be more mistakes or last times. They'd had a last time and it was over. He was a little thrown it was so abruptly over after eight months, but there was no point drawing things out until feelings were hurt.

It was over, and he could respect that. He could even see how it was better. The janitor had seen his ass nearly as much as Rebecca and Mona combined in the past eight months.That guy had some impeccable timing and possibly a lockpick kit to let himself in and act shocked there were people in the room.

The point was, Nathaniel was aware of his reality. He knew he was obsessing on the past. He tried not to stare at Rebecca and do his work, but sometimes he felt his face doing this sad, fixed longing he hoped was passing for arrogant petulance. He should delete a lot of the flirty texts on his phone from Rebecca, but when he started to go through them he found himself reading them instead. There was important work referenced once in a while, and he should keep those. 

She had sent him a photo of two otters holding hands once, and he looked at it a lot. It gave him feelings he didn't know how to process. Rebecca  
hadn't even said anything personal with it, but the caption said otters held hands while they slept so they didn't float away from one another. She had only sent it to him, one lazy Saturday afternoon when she was relaxing at home.

He should honour her example of mental strength and move on with his life. Mona was great and it wasn't as if that was nothing. It was a serious relationship. She was very well-suited to his life; just as busy as him and understanding when the office required extra time and effort. Mona had wit and intelligence. 

She didn't make him feel inadequate in vague, unsubstantiated ways he could never bring up in serious discussion. Mona never thought he had evil, black-hearted intentions or sociopathic tendancies. She seemed to think they had a normal relationship based on all the emotional keystones that made Rebecca jiggle away like the peculiar shaped jello treats she'd made for him when he insisted he didn't eat cake even on his birthday.

There was no reason to show up early anymore, but Nathaniel found himself going in before anyone else. Not that it was taxing to arrive before the bumbling crew of ne'er do wells, but he had no expectation of seeing Rebecca there before nine in the morning. 

He'd just gotten used to the supply closet, and it was a familiar space now. He had good memories and there was no harm in holding on to those. It wasn't like he was masturbating in there. Usually he was quiet and thoughtful. He sat down in the tippy-legged chair no one wanted, and let his eyes wander over all the different items he could put on his desk. He could take four boxes of pens, or a three-hole punch. He could put some new contact paper on his drawers and drink the whiteboard washer and go home vomiting. 

Nathaniel lifted his head suddenly, as two small hands rested gently on his shoulders and rubbed with gentle intimacy. His own hand even rose to cross to his opposite shoulder before he realized it wasn't Rebecca's touch. 

"Whoa! Oh, uh . . . Hi Alvaro," he said awkwardly. "I, uh, I was just getting - this!"

He ducked the shorter Guatamalan man as he stood, taking a random item from the table. The janitor nodded with an understanding warmth in his brown eyes. He was a handsome man for fifty, with a rounder build that was probably proportionate for his frame. His uniform of brown pants and a navy blue shirt was kept neat despite cleaning around the office all day. He was also looking at Nathaniel with a kind of knowing empathy. 

"She is a fine lady," Alvaro said. "If not for my Susana, I would give her a ring."

Nathaniel opted not to play dumb. Eight months was enough of that, and Alvaro had kept their secret well. He had also shot to the men's room and taken quite a while in there every time he caught them in the supply closet, but he hadn't been too disgusting about it.

"I think she's really great, too," Nathaniel said, dodging around as the other man tried to move to stay near him. "But I don't think the ring is going to happen. Sometimes it's just short and sweet and the feelings you have aren't meant to grow into anything."

His breezy, unconcerned words weren't helped by his voice cracking. Alvaro pulled him down and Nathaniel actually went with the embrace. Maybe it was being friends with the gardener or just needing someone who understood why he could no longer meet Rebecca's eyes, but he accepted Alvaro's hug and returned it.

He only jumped away when a hand settled gently at his lower back, in a move he recognized as the last easing motion toward cupping the ass. Nathaniel cleared his throat and stepped back decisively.

"Thank you. I'm fine now. I should get some work done," he said, making sure to clear his throat and use his best boss voice. "Leave the door unlocked when you're done in here, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Alvaro said, taking the hint graciously. Until he continued, with a sympathetic head tilt Nathaniel didn't appreciate at all- "I could talk to Miss Rebecca for you."

"No, please don't. A clean break is best and now we can focus on work," Nathaniel said firmly. "It's not her fault she was the first one to realize we needed to stop ourselves. Once I adjust, I'm sure I'll thank her for making sure we can still be friends."

Alvaro's bristly beard crinkled as he made a face. "Susana is always there when I need her, but I know I'm not her friend. She has friends. Friends are good for bowling and renting Vespas. Susana is my heart."

The old Nathaniel would have made a cheap joke about his lack of a heart. He shrugged awkwardly and held up the package of mechanical pencil leads. 

"I don't think I'm going to find my heart in the supply closet, Alvaro," he said. "See you later."

Nathaniel was walking a little too fast when he entered the office he shared with Rebecca. She was at her desk and organizing files as she pulled them from her bag. 

"Hi," she said, watching him as he sank down into his chair and slumped a little. "Are you okay?"

He sat up gingerly, laying the pencil leads in their spot next to his spare package of pink erasers. Between them, he and Rebecca didn't really need to visit the supply closet for months. 

"I mean, ugh, I am sort of certain Alvaro just tried for second base with me," he said unhappily. "I think he, uh, misses us."

Rebecca blinked, then scowled her best Paula-impersonation of Office Bitch. "That is not okay. As your boss, I can definitely talk to Alvaro about it. You are free to file a complaint as well, and the firm will support you. We have a zero tolerance policy for . . . "

She trailed off, at a loss for why Nathaniel would be intimidated by a janitor at his own firm. It wasn't sexual harassment as such, because he obviously could have ordered Alvaro to cut it out and get back to work. 

"If Slappy-Slaps has taught us anything, consent is an absolute requirement in all of our interactions here at the office," Rebecca said. "Do you want me to get you some water?"

"No, I'm fine," he said. "I was just thrown by the whole thing. He was kind of talking like - and this is really strange - like he thought the three of us were in a thing together. You know, like a sort of a threesome."

His lame attempt at a laugh wasn't echoed by her throaty chuckle. Rebecca nodded. 

"I think triad is actually the preferred term, but we'd be a quad, anyway," she said seriously. "Susana is his wife. We can't just leave her out of it. Apparently hearing about what Alvaro sees at work has fanned the spark for them. They've been together twenty-seven years in March. They need a little help keeping it sexy."

Rebecca seemed to register his dawning horror, because she shrugged and said, "But of course we're not anything like that, especially with the janitor and his wife. We're friends."

Nathaniel nodded stupidly. He wasn't sure he could listen to Rebecca's interpretation of Alvaro's marriage after hearing the janitor talk about her like he'd been invited to see their closest moments.

"You're right," he said. "We're friends. Maybe we'll just distance ourselves from Alvaro, though. He's gotten a bit creepy about it."


End file.
